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The emergence of the ‘shy socialists’
Having been ridiculed into the sidelines for decades by an aggressive right-wing press, Britain’s left has been given fresh confidence by the Corbyn campaign, says EMILY MAIDEN

IN 1992, political commentators felt poised for a Labour victory after 13 devastating years of Thatcherism which resulted in mass unemployment, the butchery of Britain’s industrial base and rioting over the poll tax.

All signs pointed to a slim success for Labour, consistently polling marginally above the Tories. Yet the Tory defeat did not materialise and pollsters were forced to concede that there was a flaw in their methods.

This apparent gulf between the polling results and the actual general election outcome was put down to a new phenomenon — the “shy Tory factor.” Pollsters realised that there were many people up and down the country who were so ashamed of their intention to vote Tory that they either gave a non-committal response when questioned on voting preferences or who were prepared to answer with an outright lie.

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